An Unexpected Encounter
by flower pot girl
Summary: Sam Carter bumps into an old acquaintance.


Samantha Carter wandered along, enjoying the fine weather. She had an hour or so to kill and had toyed with the idea of shopping, but the sunshine had lured her outside. Spending so much of her time underground at the SGC had made her appreciate the cherry blossom and the spring air so much more. She had worked at the Pentagon, so Washington was familiar to her and she timed her circuit well. She was sat on a bench watching the tourists when she heard a voice calling her.

She looked round in surprise and suppressed a grimace. Not quite the person she was hoping to see. Of all the people she knew, Amanda Peterson was probably the last one she would choose to bump into. Bitchy and ambitious with an eye to the main chance was the kindest description a mutual acquaintance had used.

"Amanda," she nodded as the other woman sat down. Obviously Amanda was happier to see Sam than Sam was to see her. The woman was supremely oblivious to anyone who was not of use to her and Sam wondered why she was worth bothering with today. Amanda probably had something to gloat about.

"So, what have you been up to, Sam?"

"Keeping busy."

"Where are you working now?"

"Cheyenne Mountain."

"Oh, out in the sticks, you poor thing. You must miss this place, being in the thick of it."

"In the thick of it? Not much action here."

"Not all that grubbing around in BDUs. No, here, where decisions are made and things get done. You can't get much fun under a mountain. What are you working on?"

"Deep space telemetry."

"Thrilling, I don't think. Now here is where the power and influence are."

"So what are you doing, Amanda?" Sam was resigned to the conversation now and decided to just grit her teeth until she could get rid of the other woman.

There was a pause and a slight shuffling around. So not quite running the country yet, deduced Sam.

"I'm doing some very interesting work with the Presidential liaison team. Made Major last year. How about you?"

Oh no, here goes, thought Sam as she replied tersely, "Lieutenant Colonel."

"Oh, well, I suppose it's easier to get promotion when you are doing research. Makes up for the lack of action."

Ouch, thought Sam and then grinned to herself thinking 'if only you knew'.

"So, you hook up with one of those science geeks yet?"

"No."

"Must be hard. Not a lot of hot guys around labs. You should see some of the hunks wandering round the Pentagon. There's even a rather dishy General."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, not met him yet, but he's probably a bit too old. Mind you, he has the ear of the President ."

Sam nearly choked as she wondered if she knew who Amanda was talking about

It couldn't be, could it? Well, better not tell him, he would love that.

"So, do you have a husband or a boyfriend, Amanda?"

"Yeah, Dave's a policeman." Sam noticed that she sounded less than enthusiastic. Knowing Amanda he was probably a stopgap until she netted someone with power and influence.

"Never mind, Sam, we can't all be in relationships and I am sure one of the geeks will take pity on you one day. It's not like they get out much to meet people."

As Sam winced she felt a familiar presence behind her and turned with a smile.

"Oh Sam has all the geeks after her," laughed Jack, but he paused as he caught sight of Sam's face. No, that had not been a jokey remark obviously. Man, what a bitch.

Amanda turned to look at the newcomer.

"Hi. Are you a friend of Sam's? I'm Amanda."

"Jack, nice to meet you. Do you work around here?"

"I'm at the Pentagon," said Amanda smugly. "Have you known Sam long?"

"Yeah, we've worked together for years."

"Really? So what's a handsome guy like you doing working in deep space telemetry?"

"Oh, I don't have Sam's brains. I was just the gofer on the team."

"Jack."

"It's true, Sam, you are definitely the brains of the outfit. Danny is the heart, T is the muscle and that left me, and now Mitchell, to fill in the gaps."

"I am sure you fill the gaps beautifully," Amanda even batted her eyelashes at Jack, but she could not fail to notice that he seemed oblivious. She tried again, "So how about we all go to lunch and catch up?"

"Sorry, Sam and I are meeting people for lunch. Maybe another time."

"Oh, OK, nice to meet you Jack. See you around Sam."

"Bye Amanda."

Amanda watched them walk away and then realised that the hot guy had his arm around Sam. She realised that Sam had answered her questions, but not volunteered any information. So, it looked like she was with this Jack. Although Amanda missed a lot she had perfected the art of assessing men she met. Despite what she hoped Jack had a certain air of confidence which put him in a different league to her policeman boyfriend. She wondered what he did and was startled to get her answer almost immediately.

An Air Force sergeant approached the couple while they were still in earshot. Amanda heard him say, "General, the Joint Chiefs asked if you and your wife would be ready for lunch a little early, as the President has to leave promptly and he wanted Colonel Carter's input on the most recent technologies."

Amanda swallowed back the bile and wished the ground would do the same for her. Jealousy ran rampant in her bitter mind as she assembled the clues. It looked like Jack was none other than General O'Neill and was married to that geeky Sam Carter, who was a Colonel and was advising the President and sharing lunch with him and the Joint Chiefs. This would take some getting over.


End file.
